It amazes me that I often take a random photo in a cemetery because I feel that there will be a story behind the stone. In this case, there were no other graves nearby with this surname. This is a Civil War grave. I wondered at the time, "Is there anybody to remember this couple?"
Having a clear photograph of the dates and the unit in which he served. I immediately looked in up in this site.
It was as it says. He served in the 44 Massachusetts Militia Infantry in Company B as a private. (MS44 roll 34). Next, I turned to Ancestry.com to locate this couple in the 1900 census and just as I thought, his wife Fannie listed the number of children as zero. Now, the scroll at the top of this gravestone visually holding this couple together makes sense. They were very close. Can't you just tell? It lists him as a carpenter being born in Apr of 1837 and she as born in Dec 1839.
I found out from that census record that they were married 40 years in 1900 which sets the marriage in the range of 1859 to 1860. From there I went to the Massachusetts Vital Records [at NEHGS] and found their marriage record easily. (I wish everything was this quick, don't you?) 23 November 1859.
Fannie was the daughter of Sherman Houghton and his wife Sarah. William was the son of William and Ann Robinson. He was born in Stow and she was born in Bolton. It is fitting that they are buried in this lovely Pan Burying Ground in Bolton near the Stow line.
1 comment:
Nice tribute, nice of you to take the time to acknowledge them. They are not forgotten.
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